Turn Around and See What Happens -- It's Whoopi Time and that's a wrap 3/31; F&G add

[KatMark]

Yes we've seen it.

Good.

I have no idea what we are planning. We skipped Epcot this year so I guess we would spend some time there. I can't wrap my mind around what we are going to do. Sunday we will be off the boat by 9am I would guess. So we would be in WDW by 11am at the latest. Check in somewhere then probably head to a park for a while. Maybe we would end up in MK to see Wishes at night.

I definitely think you'll have time for some park time in the late afternoon/evening after getting settled.

It will probably be hot has heck so I might foresee us doing mornings at a park then hit a different park after an afternoon break or relaxing and swimming. But I always think we will do that then we stay in a park from open to closing. I guess I need to come up with some sort of plan.

Well, we know what your plans are for Tuesday morning; and hopefully Wednesday night for your anniversary.

You spelled it perfectly Kathy And I would never correct ya, I still misspell my last name from time to time when I sign charts (I've been married over 20 years )

Oh good; I hate mispelling people's names. I had to spell my maiden name for Andy yesterday and I screwed it up. So don't feel bad.

Glad to hear! Ugh this winter is absolutely relentless Eyes out here are on Super Bowl...I think they are digging out the stadium as we speak

It's horrible. I hope it doesn't snow Super Bowl Sunday. That could be a mess.

 

[oopsiDAISY]

YUM~ dinner at Jiko looked delicious! I will take one of the steaks! There are so many restaurants we want to try too...we rarely do any repeats, other than CS. We do have CS faves that we repeat. Sunshine Seasons being #1 on that list!

What a run around you had to get those t-shirts! Can't wait to see what they look like!

BTW~ I am sure I have said it before, but I have to say it again...those girls are just so beautiful!

 

[jedijill]

Mmmm, I need to get back to Jiko some of these days. It is tasty!

How grown up of the girls to be able to hang in the room alone why the adults had dinner!

I love me some AKL! Nothing like waking up to zebras and giraffes! My friend's daughter is now an animal keep at AKL...she says its a lot of fun!

Jill in CO

 

[glaserjm]

Between your Jiko pics and ScottNY's Restaurant Marrakesh pics in your updates this afternoon my 3 PM snack is just not cutting it!

I see that you'll be trying Via Napoli for the first time in Sep. We are trying it in March and I'm super excited for it!

The creepy clown chair pics at the end of the updated are going to give me nightmares!

 

[afwdwfan]

I just LOVE walking into this lobby (and can't wait to do it again in 42 days):

Jealous...

So I present you with our meal

Mmmmm.... A that thing... and some of those things... and a what's it. Looks delicious.

Oh, look, I took a photo to describe what the things above were

I'm glad Mary was looking out for you and your TR.

Of course, someone had to play

What else are the gift shops for?

(Those truly are scary chairs )

Between those chairs and the creepy clown pool, I don't see how they get away charging a deluxe price at that resort. You'd think they'd be paying people to stay there.

About 20 minutes after we arrived in our room, there was a knock on the door. A very sweet CM went and retrieved my package and I had my shirts. I have to say that the CM's at the BWV were outstanding in every, single way.

The whole thing sounds like a pain in the rear, but I'm glad the BWV CM's took care of you and fixed it in the end. Even though it was a problem originally caused by a postal worker somewhere in Chicago.

Up next...a new breakfast ADR for Mark and I (Andy...be sure you catch this one).

I will... and you better like it!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Kathy Kathy Kathy, I don't understand why you couldn't give a description of your meals at Jiko. There was some bread, some spreads, some meat, veggies and dessert. See, now that wasn't so bad and I wasn't even there. Seriously, I don't think that we'll be trying Jiko any time soon because I'm a little leery of odd spices that I'm not familiar with.

Thank goodness the package situated was worked out!

 

[MEK]

The boardwalk looks so pretty with the Christmas decorations! I just love seeing all the beautiful decorations at all the resorts.

Dinner looks yum. I love the bread service. You know what's sad - Denny and I ate at Jiko and can't remember what I had. Denny had a chicken dish which was not good at all. I can't believe he didn't send it back.

Where the animals seen from the balcony in Mary's room? I absolutely loved that aspect of staying at AKL.

 

[Janet B]

Kathy,
Love all the new picturse & updates (and about Jiko, we don't need much description, the pictures say alot themselves ). In December, we eat at Sanaa and really enjoyed it. Jiko is on our bucket list.

In the gift shop I thought "play" was going to be Mark sporting a hat or two, then I saw the girls in the adorable animal mickey ears. So cute!

What a fiasco on the T-shirts! Happy that it was resolved in the end; CMs at Disney overall are terrific.

I'll admit the chairs are a bit scary- but as one of the imagineers shares my son's name (Paul) on one of our trips I will venture over and take of pix of "his" chair and send it to him just for fun and tell him I bought it for his apartment!

 

[teekathepony]

AKL has completely captured my heart, so beautiful! Especially with the Christmas decorations.
I'm so nervous to try Jiko, but some day I really want to. I have a very boring taste preference! Lol but I'll take my chances some day. Looks tasty!
Beautiful boardwalk pics too, that's my next dream resort.
Glad you were able to get your shirts!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[jenseib]

OOOH! How frustrating. I have a lazy mailnman too. We have had several days of no mail over the holidays and winter storm days because he gives up at a certain point in the day and we are atthe end of the route. So wouldn't you think he would start with us the next day...nope. starts at the beginning and again we get missed. And then he never wants to get out of his truck and then back out of my drive so he delivers packages to my MIL next door because he can drive in a circle out her drive. of course she doesn't tell me...which I am sure is on purpose as I have told her time andtime again to let me know ASAP as many are work related and she doesn't. She'll tell Skip and then IF he picks it up it goes out to the barn and sits till her remembers. Everytime I call and ask her she says well I told Skip. I have told her time and time again that means nothing. It will never get to me and these are time sensitive things.
Sorry about my rant...but I know you pain!

 

[Simba22]

Hi Kathy! I've fallen behind on everyone's TR (including my own!) but I'm finally catching up!

Funny story about the Jingle Jungle Parade... The regular Jammin' Jungle Parade is my FAVORITE. Besides, Boo To You, it's the only parade that I insist that we stop to watch on every trip. A few years ago, we went to Disney in December and I was excited for our AK day. I had no idea they changed the parade during the holiday season and I was DEVASTATED. Like WAY more than I should have been. I'm still scarred and Lumar still makes fun of me for it. He said I legitimately looked like I was going to cry!

Rafiki's Planet Watch is awesome! I actually got to MEET Rafiki there a couple of years ago which was really cool! We also did the Backstage Safari Tour once and got to talk to some of the CMs about the elephant herd they have there. They played recordings of noises that elephants make that can be heard by other elephants for miles...but the human ear can't pick them up because the decibels they use are so low. It was amazing and so much fun! I would love to do that tour again someday!

Oh, Jiko.... We were supposed to eat there in 2010 and Lumar got sick so we canceled it and we opted for Sanaa this year instead. Your meal looks fantastic though! And I know we'll be back to AKL so we'll get to eat there at some point! I swear, I would live at the AKL if I could!

So glad to hear that your brother is doing well! Hopefully he's improving a bit more every day!

When we were at the BWV, I said the EXACT SAME THING to Lumar about those creepy chairs! SO WEIRD!!!

You are not the only one with Post Office problems! I bought a Disney Dooney & Bourke Buttons Cosmetic Bag from a girl on the FB group. She sent me the confirmation information and the tracking number. I wasn't really paying much attention and the day it was scheduled to arrive came and went and I didn't even notice. Normally, when I receive a package through USPS, that doesn't fit in the mail box, they leave me one of those stupid orange notes. I never got one. Long story short, the post office marked off that it was delivered, even though I never got it. So I filed a claim with them (because it was insured) and they denied my claim stating "the tracking number you provided shows that your package was delivered." I was SO ANGRY!!! It was like they didn't even READ the claim! So a few weeks ago, I was expecting another package and I called my property manager to say I was expecting something and if she could stop the postman and ask him to leave it with her, I would appreciate it. She said "I'll try but the Post Office never leaves packages, only the orange notes. You have to go pick it up yourself if you're not home when they deliver." REALLY FUNNY considering as how my DDB was allegedly left at our door when they NEVER leave packages. I hate the USPS!! It's expensive but I almost always use FedEx because the USPS always screws something up! OK I'm done now!

 

[scottny]

I night have to try Jiko again. We just didn't care for it last time.

That is great they were able to get the shirts for you.

 

[addictedtothemouse]

I LOVED Jiko! The first time I went they still had lavender ice cream on the menu, mmmmmm.

 

[goofy4prez]

Kathy, as usual, I look forward to seeing and reading about your TR's.

I agree with you about the AKL; the lobby is breathtaking and is my favorite in all WDW. As you know I originally had the AKL booked for our upcoming trip in June but with the discounts released by Disney I changed them up to the CR-CL. I just could not pass up the location to the MK and the monorail and have to admit I was concerned about the transportation at AKL... I'm hoping I didn't make a mistake.

As for Jiko; we ate there for the first time on our last trip in December. I found the service to be excellent and the food to be very good. It was not my favorite restaurant, but we are returning again in June. You did mention you will be going to the Flying Fish and Via Napoli for the first time. I was very impressed with the Flying Fish. It was our last night at Disney, we were tired, and we had a very late ADR. We arrived 90 minutes early and in spite of it being busy they accommodated us with only a 15 minute wait. The food was outstanding and we are returning again in June. As for Via Napoli, I enjoyed it but I just don't share the same enthusiasm so many here on the DIS seem to have for it. Carolyn did like the pizza she ordered, but I found the veal parmesian to be good, but not what I would call great. And the side of roasted potatoes was what I would call an odd side dish. Would I go back? Yes. Am I going back in June? No.

Again, love your trip report and extend a belated Happy Birthday to Mark.

 

[GoofyFan1515]

The menu at Jiko hasn't really hit me, so it is still on my list of not done yet, but admittedly it will probably be awhile before it rises to the top. I still have quite a few higher on my list.

Soon Mary had her room and off we went. Of course, the girls and I made a beeline for the balcony to see what animals we could find:

Well of course, what ELSE would you do first at an AK resort?

I will tell you right now, I don't remember what anyone had (I should have taken notes at my age since I tend to forget and because we'd never eaten here before and I knew I wouldn't remember anything). So I present you with our meals:

OOOH....I know what that is...BREAD.

Nothing slips past you..........

Oh, look, I took a photo to describe what the things above were:



That was a great idea!

I had a birthday button on, so they brought me this:



I hope that was as good as it is neat to look at!

Happy Birthday again to you and Mark!

During the dinner, the girls called me twice. They wanted to let us know they had eaten all of their dinner and were behaving. Such good girls they are.

That's just too cute, but somehow not surprising from those two!

We enjoyed our dinner at Jiko. I'm not sure that I will rush to get back because there are too many places I still want to try (we will finally be trying Flying Fish and Via Napoli in September). The food was very good, just a little different than what I am used to eating spice wise.

Sounds like the way I feel. You have two really great ones and personal favorites on your list for September!

We went and got the girls and took them down to Mara to get them some dessert. Then we went to the gift shop to look around. Of course, someone had to play:



Of course!


(Those truly are scary chairs )

Yes! Yes they are!!!

About 20 minutes after we arrived in our room, there was a knock on the door. A very sweet CM went and retrieved my package and I had my shirts. I have to say that the CM's at the BWV were outstanding in every, single way.

How super that the CM was able to come through for you!

 

[Chicago Mo]

the boardwalk looks so dreamy!!! <-- not a fan of that word but i am tired of using amazing... except for those chairs...

The food looks.... Different. The steak looked yummy! Sorry you have a tool for a mail carrier. that seriously sucks. They should have ate the cost to fed ex the shirts!!! it was their fault!!! at least you had some wonderful CM who helped.. they are wonderful people


Can't wait to see what's next.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

So when I left you last, we were exiting the Animal Kingdom and heading over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge where Mary and the girls woudl be staying for the remainder of their trip.

I just LOVE walking into this lobby (and can't wait to do it again in 42 days):

I miss that place. What a magical place to stay.

And where were we dining? Mara? Boma? Nope...none of those. We were having our first ever dinner here:

Whoa, getting exotic now!

I will tell you right now, I don't remember what anyone had (I should have taken notes at my age since I tend to forget and because we'd never eaten here before and I knew I wouldn't remember anything).

OOOH....I know what that is...BREAD.

Even I figured that one out!

We enjoyed our dinner at Jiko. I'm not sure that I will rush to get back because there are too many places I still want to try (we will finally be trying Flying Fish and Via Napoli in September).

Oooh, Via Napoli!

He then went to Fed Ex and had it shipped to me at a cost of $60.

(Those truly are scary chairs )

Those things are going to stalk somebody in that resort, sooner or later.

About 20 minutes after we arrived in our room, there was a knock on the door. A very sweet CM went and retrieved my package and I had my shirts. I have to say that the CM's at the BWV were outstanding in every, single way.

Nice to see somebody was interested in customer service!

 

[Pluto0809]

AKL is so beautiful at Christmas time!

Jiko is one restaurant that has never been on my radar because I am so picky. I don't think I could find anything to eat there. That being said, your food looks delicious!

I love that store at AKL because it has so many unique items you don't find at other stores.

That's awful that your mail lady didn't deliver your package but I'm glad they let your brother pick it up and ship it too you despite the cost!

Awesome service from the staff at BWI!

 

[pas130]

I just love AKL, and it's even prettier decorated I bet. So glad you got the shirts Go BWI, and not loving the chairs..the rest of the place is amazing!

 

[tazdev3225]

I think the cold weather has permanently frozen my brain. I have been on here several times and forgot to reply.

I love Conservation Station but usually only go with the kids. My grandsons love creepy crawly critters.

We skipped the parade this year. We actually got diverted down a wonderful little path so I'm happy we did.

Love the pics of AKL. I am staying there in May with a friend and really looking forward to it. I think my early morning wanderings will be a lot of fun. Jiko has never interested me but the food does look good. My husband has developed an allergy to a spice and we can't figure out what it is so I am sticking to things that we know for now. He almost ended up in the hospital on New Year's Eve with head to toe hives and a swollen tongue. It was a little scary but Benadryl worked thankfully. Of course stubborn man that he is he won't go to the doctor.

Glad your brother is doing better and you got your shirts. I think I am caught up now.